Minnesota Falls 23-10 to No. 6 Cowboys in Home Opener
MINNEAPOLIS – An exciting night for Minnesota ended on a sour note as the No. 11 Gophers fell to No. 6 Oklahoma State 23-10 on a night where fans were welcomed back to Maturi Pavilion for the first time since the close of the 2019-20 season. The Gophers won three of the ten bouts in Saturday’s contest.
The dual kicked off at 125 pounds, as Patrick McKee was upset by No. 16 Mastrogiovanni. Mastrogiovanni converted three takedowns in the match, which proved to be the difference in a 10-6 decision. Oklahoma State kept it rolling at 133 pounds, as No. 2 Daton Fix secured a major decision over Minnesota’s Jake Gliva.
Jake Bergeland got the Gophers on the right foot at 141 pounds, as he defeated highly-anticipated freshman Carter Young by a score of 6-4. Bergeland’s defense was the difference-maker in the bout, as he scrambled out of two deep Young attacks to get two takedowns of his own and secure the victory.
After a tough loss at 149 pounds where Michael Blockhus dropped a 9-4 decision to Kaden Gfeller, Brayton Lee dominated in a battle between All-Americans, as he rolled to a 15-9 decision win over Wyatt Sheets. Lee was the aggressor for the entire match as he converted on multiple takedowns and had an eight-point lead, however, a late takedown from Sheets spoiled the major decision bids.
From 165 to 197, Minnesota dropped four straight matches via three decisions and one major decision, allowing Oklahoma State to clinch the dual early. At 184 pounds, Isaiah Salazar competed in an exciting contest with sixth-ranked Dakota Geer, although a low-ankle attack in sudden victory allowed Geer to prevail in overtime.
No. 1 heavyweight in the nation Gable Steveson closed out the night with a bang, as he defeated Oklahoma State’s Austin Surber with a 20-7 major decision. Steveson was seemingly scoring at will throughout the match with a total of nine takedowns and found repeat success with his double-leg attacks.
Minnesota will fall to 0-1 on the young season, as the Cowboys will jump to 2-0. The Gophers will have a quick turnaround on the weekend, as they travel to Brookings, S.D. on Sunday morning to compete in the Daktronics Open. Their next home match will be Sunday, Nov. 28 as they host South Dakota State at 1:00 p.m. CT.
Gable Steveson jumped to a 14-0 dual record inside Maturi Pavilion as he earned the major decision victory over Surber. Of his 14 home wins, he has earned bonus points in eleven of them.
“I think we’re just allowing them to dictate the pace too much. We were doing a lot of reacting to them, and that’s a hard way to upset a top team,” Coach Eggum said. “Obviously, we know that they’re a great team and we knew that there would be some tough battles, but we expected more from our guys. “It was awesome to get a win from Bergeland. Brayton Lee looked great, and obviously, Gable did too. Even some other guys like Salazar and Foy looked good against tough opponents, but in general, I just think we wrestled a style that wasn’t going to be beneficial to us if we wanted to really upset a team like that.”
No. 6 Oklahoma State 23, No. 11 Minnesota 10
125: No. 16 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OKST) dec. No. 5 Patrick McKee, 9-4
133: No. 2 Daton Fix (OKST) MD Jake Gliva (MINN), 18-7
141: Jake Bergeland (MINN) dec. Carter Young (OKST), 6-4
149: Kaden Gfeller (OKST) dec. No. 19 Michael Blockhus (MINN), 9-4
157: No. 5 Brayton Lee (MINN) dec. No. 16 Wyatt Sheets (OKST), 15-9
165: No. 6 Travis Wittlake (OKST) dec. No. 18 Andrew Sparks (MINN), 8-3
174: No. 19 Dustin Plott (OKST) dec. No. 20 Jared Krattiger (MINN), 5-1
184: No. 6 Dakota Geer (OKST) dec. Isaiah Salazar (MINN), 3-1 SV1
197: No. 1 A.J. Ferrari (OKST) MD Michial Foy (MINN), 12-4
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN) MD Luke Surber (OKST), 20-7
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